CHARLESDARWINTOC。LYELL。
Down[February15th，1860]……Iamperfectlyconvinced（havingreadthismorning）thatthereviewinthe’Annals’（AnnalsandMag。ofNat。Hist。thirdseries，vol。5，page132。
Myfatherhasobviouslytakentheexpression\"pestilent\"fromthefollowingpassage（page138）:\"ButwhoisthisNature，wehavearighttoask，whohassuchtremendouspower，andtowhoseefficiencysuchmarvellousperformancesareascribed？Whatareherimageandattributes，whendraggedfromherwordylurking—place？Issheaughtbutapestilentabstraction，likedustcastinoureyestoobscuretheworkingsofanIntelligentFirstCauseofall？\"Thereviewerpaysatributetomyfather’scandour，\"somanlyandoutspokenasalmostto’coveramultitudeofsins。’\"Theparentheses（towhichallusionismadeabove）aresofrequentastogiveacharacteristicappearancetoMr。Wollaston’spages。）isbyWollaston;nooneelseintheworldwouldhaveusedsomanyparentheses。Ihavewrittentohim，andtoldhimthatthe\"pestilent\"fellowthankshimforhiskindmannerofspeakingabouthim。IhavealsotoldhimthathewouldbepleasedtohearthattheBishopofOxfordsaysitisthemostunphilosophical（AnotherversionofthewordsisgivenbyLyell，towhomtheywerespoken，viz。\"themostillogicalbookeverwritten。\"——’Life，’
volumeii。page358。）workheeverread。Thereviewseemstomeclever，andonlymisinterpretsmeinafewplaces。Likeallhostilemen，hepassesovertheexplanationgivenofClassification，Morphology，Embryology，andRudimentaryOrgans，etc。IreadWallace’spaperinMS。（\"OntheZoologicalGeographyoftheMalayArchipelago。\"——Linn。Soc。Journ。1860。），andthoughtitadmirablygood;hedoesnotknowthathehasbeenanticipatedaboutthedepthofinterveningseadeterminingdistribution……ThemostcuriouspointinthepaperseemstomethatabouttheAfricancharacteroftheCelebesproductions，butIshouldrequirefurtherconfirmation……
Henslowisstayinghere;Ihavehadsometalkwithhim;heisinmuchthesamestateasBunbury（ThelateSirCharlesBunbury，well—knownasaPalaeo—botanist。），andwillgoaverylittlewaywithus，butbringsupnorealargumentagainstgoingfurther。Healsoshuddersattheeye！Itisreallycurious（andperhapsisanargumentinourfavour）howdifferentlydifferentopposersviewthesubject。HenslowusedtoresthisoppositionontheimperfectionoftheGeologicalRecord，buthenowthinksnothingofthis，andsaysIhavegotwelloutofit;IwishIcouldquiteagreewithhim。BadenPowellsaysheneverreadanythingsoconclusiveasmystatementabouttheeye！！Astrangerwritestomeaboutsexualselection，andregretsthatIboggleaboutsuchatrifleasthebrushofhaironthemaleturkey，andsoon。AsL。Jenynshasareallyphilosophicalmind，andasyousayyouliketoseeeverything，Isendanoldletterofhis。InalaterlettertoHenslow，whichIhaveseen，heismorecandidthananyopposerIhaveheardof，forhesays，thoughheCANNOTgosofarasIdo，yethecangivenogoodreasonwhyheshouldnot。Itisfunnyhoweachmandrawshisownimaginarylineatwhichtohalt。ItremindsmesovividlywhatIwastold（ByProfessorHenslow。）aboutyouwhenIfirstcommencedgeology——tobelieveaLITTLE，butonnoaccounttobelieveall。